Land degradation affecting the livelihoods of people living in dryland areas, particularly the Sub-Saharan Africa countries like Ethiopia. Degraded land rehabilitation in dryland is a challenging task due to moisture limitation. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of soil and water conservation structures on growth of planted tree and rehabilitation of indigenous plant species in West Guji Zone, Dugda Dawa District. Four multipurpose tree species (MPTs) namely Faidherbia albida, Melia azedarach, Moringa stenopetala, and Sesbania sesban were planted in four soil and moisture conservation structures (soil level bund, half-moon, trench and normal pit). Data of survival rate, height and diameter growth of planted tree species and, diversity and species richness of indigenous plant species were collected. The survival rate of all planted MPTs species were declining along the study years; however, the survival rate was better under soil level bund and half-moon. Under control treatments, all planted MPTs died at the end of the study period. The height and stem diameter of F. albida, M. azedarach and M. stenopetala were best in soil level bund and half-moon and followed by the trench. Whereas, the growth performance of Sesbania sesban was not significantly different among the three moisture conservation structures. Furthermore, soil moisture conservation structures significantly increased the indigenous plant species regeneration after the intervention. The mean indigenous plant species diversity and richness were significantly highest in half-moon and soil level bund followed by trench and, lowest in Control (normal pit). Thus, the results a potential for alternative forest and soil restoration in arid areas.
Gum and resin bearing tree species were one of the very important resources in Ethiopia. Particularly, Borana pastoralists were used these resources as a source of income generation for their livelihoods. However, the resource was declining over a time due to different natural and human made problems. Therefore, it is important to study for its future sustainability through soil seed bank, seed germinations, vegetative propagations and analyzing its natural regeneration status. Commiphora myrrha, Boswelia neglecta, Boswellia microphylla and Acacia senegal were gum and resin bearing tree species selected for this study. With this; soil seed bank samples were collected from under and outside the canopy of selected tree species. Five tree species of each tree were used to collect soil seed bank sample at two canopy cover and three different soil depth, and 120 soil seed bank samples were taken from all types of tree species and evaluated for its germination. Seeds of selected species were also collected and evaluated for their germination. Moreover, stems and branches of those species were cut, planted and evaluated for their sprout. As a result, the absence of seeds of those species both inside and outside the canopy of trees in all soil depth layers was confirmed. This may be due to seed losses through (fire, degradation and over grazing), improper settlement, over logging, debarking, human over use for food, improper tapping. The result of analysis of variance also showed that, seedling germination percentage, survival percentage, shoot height and root height were highly significant different at (p<0.001) among all the treatments. The observed mean value of germination percentage were 99%, 46%, 40% and 25% for Acacia senegal, Boswellia microphylla, Boswelia neglecta and Commiphora myrrha respectively. Thus, the seed of those species doesn't have dormancy and all healthy and filled seeds had high germination rates. About 60% of Boswellia microphylla and 50% of both Commiphora myrrha and Boswelia neglecta were sprouted in the fourth year of the studies. Hence, it is advisable to use stem propagations for any conservation purposes incase seeds of those species fail to germinate except for Acacia senegal as it is naturally not propagated by stem cutting. Therefore, it is recommended to increase the regenerations of those species by reducing overgrazing, avoiding burning of those species and reduce land degradations and also using seeds and vegetative propagations if any management aims for conservations.
Agroforestry as a dynamic ecologically-based natural resources management system that through the integration of trees on farms and in the agricultural landscape diversifies and sustains production for increased socio-economic and environmental benefits. Among those, alley cropping is one of the agroforestry practices which is growing food crops between hedgerows of planted shrubs and trees, preferably leguminous species. A study was conducted to evaluate the contributions of alley cropping for improving maize yield and to evaluate the role of alley cropping for soil fertility improvement in the study area. Susbania sesban and Cajanus cajan trees/shrubs were selected for their potential to improve soil fertility (nitrogen fixing) and have other uses such as fodder. The experiment was designed with four treatments and laid out in randomized complete block design with three replications (block) along the slope gradient. The size of a sampling units (a plot) for each treatment were 20 m x 13 m and the distance between treatments (plots) was 2 m, while; the distance between blocks were 3 m. Alley crop was designed in doubled alley per study plot and the size of an alley crop was 20 m x 5 m. The selected variety of maize (Gibe 2) was sown between alleys of trees/shrubs with recommended spacing of 25 cm and 75 cm between plant and rows of maize respectively. Soil samples were collected and analyzed to evaluate the change made to soil fertility improvement. As a result, a significant difference among arrangements of maize alley cropping in grain yield was observed at (P<0.001). The highest total grain yield was obtained from maize sown with recommended fertilizer (5.16 ton/ha) in 2018 cropping season and maize grown in between alley of Cajanus cajan (4.33 ton/ha) in 2019 cropping season. The soil chemical properties under the alleys plots improved compared to control plots. Positive changes in the soil fertility in terms of soil organic C, total N, soil pH, available K, and exchangeable Ca, Mg and CEC of the top soil layer were detected in alley cropping system. Tree/shrub species of Cajanus cajan seemed to be better than Susbania sesban in improving soil health. Accordingly, it is recommended to grown maize with recommended application of fertilizer and in between alleys of Cajanus cajan tree/shrub species as it has multipurpose importance.
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